Name: Modern Cookery
Ingredients: 4 oz sugar (6 oz if needed); rinds of 2 China oranges; 1 pint water; ½ pint strained juice of China oranges; ½ pint strained juice of 1 large lemon; ½ pint best Cognac brandy

Why it works: Orange and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Modern Cookery

Ingredients

4 oz sugar (6 oz if needed)
rinds of 2 China oranges
1 pint water
½ pint strained juice of China oranges
½ pint strained juice of 1 large lemon
½ pint best Cognac brandy

Directions

Make the syrup

Combine sugar, orange rinds, and water in a pot.
Boil for 3 minutes.
Strain the mixture.

Combine and serve

Mix the strained juice of China oranges and lemon with the brandy.
Serve chilled.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together10,634 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Orange + cognac brandytop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together134 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together53,532 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together19,212 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Lemon + cognac brandytop 24% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together169 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sugar: Sweetens the drink and balances the sharp citrus juices and brandy.
China orange rinds: Infuse aromatic oil and flavour into the boiled syrup.
Cognac brandy: Provides the spirit base and warming aroma of the drink.
China orange juice: Adds bright citrus flavour and acidity to balance the sweetness.
Lemon juice: Adds extra acidity that sharpens the overall flavour.